Supreme Court-designate Ketanji Brown Jackson didn’t attempt to stay neutral on a gun control issue that could land before the high court one day.
During a commencement address at Harvard University last week, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern listed several items her government has accomplished in recent years, including “banning military-style semi-automatics and assault rifles.”
New Zealand banned these weapons after the 2019 Christchurch mosque shooting, which left 51 dead.
Jackson, who was sitting near Ardern, was seen applauding while the graduates gave a standing ovation.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the newest Supreme Court Justice, caught on video showing her applauding
— NOVA Campaigns (@NoVA_Campaigns) June 5, 2022
New Zealand Prime Minister’s ban on guns pic.twitter.com/0OAK7kKWTf
She hasn’t even started yet.
— ???? Mike Davis ???? (@mrddmia) June 4, 2022
And she’s already engaged in inappropriate political activism.
She’s publicly cheering on one side in a highly contentious matter that may come before her.
How can litigants before the Court expect a fair, unbiased hearing?https://t.co/nxPxb7tXsl
Her public approbation comes as Democrats have renewed calls for stricter gun control, including a ban on semi-automatic sporting rifles, in the wake of a recent spate of mass shootings.
"We need to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. And if we can't ban assault weapons, then we should raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21, strengthen background checks, enact safe storage laws and red flag laws. Repeal the immunity that protects gun manufacturers' liability," Biden said at the White House last week. "These are rational, commonsense measures. And here's what it all means, it all means this. We should reinstate the assault weapons ban, high capacity magazines that we passed in 1994 with bipartisan support in Congress and the support of law enforcement. Nine categories of semi-automatic weapons were included in that ban, like AK-47s, and AR-15s. And in the 10 years it was law, mass shootings were down."
As Katie reported, however, the ban cannot be credited "with any of the nation's recent drop in gun violence," according to a DOJ-funded study from the University of Pennsylvania Center of Criminology.